Pinwheels as party flowers (and favors)

I found directions for making paper pinwheels on line at Heather Bailey's site and wanted to see if I could make them be "flowers" for our little cafe, which could also serve as party favors for the girls.

The pattern is approaching the double-sided paper a little nervously... as was I - the exacto knife and I have not been friends in the past.


No fingers were maimed in the making of these wheels (that happened with the vegetable peeler later in the week)


paper + hole punch + eyelet tool = pinwheel goodness



next step? painting dowel rods and wrapping them in ribbon, making the spools, attaching the flower through a hole drilled with... a power tool. Once again, no body parts were harmed (this surprises me, it really does).


Also I am silly and didn't take a photo of all of them finished, in little parfait glasses. Doh.

Combo Birthday Cake

When you have two kids born within 2 weeks of each other (albeit 4 years apart) party planning becomes difficult. Add to that the fact that Christmas is right around the corner (and Thanksgiving just behind us) and what you get is a combo party for the family to celebrate. We usually do something different for the kid celebrations, and this year was no exception. SweetGirl got a trip downtown to a fancy restaurant and American Girl Place along with a weekend full of friend fun with our good friends from the South.

In the end we came up with an "American Girl Cafe meets Ratatouille" themed party, which SweetGirl aptly named "Gusteau's American Cafe" (Ratatouille movie fans will understand why).

It was a little difficult trying to figure out how to fit an American Girl theme into a Ratatouille theme, so we went with a Mia character and Remy sitting by a Gluten-free toque.


Mia (who looks like a little Mii character on the Nintendo Wii)


Remy and his toque


The fondant is marshmallow fondant, the figures are all made out of fondant (supported by toothpicks). It was a late night the evening before but well worth it to see the joy on their faces when we brought the cake out!